JRL Ventures/Marine Concepts hosted a town hall meeting for Florida Sen. and Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio at its Sarasota headquarters.
More than 550 people gathered at the manufacturing facility to attend Rubio’s first town hall meeting in the area.
Owner and CEO Bob Long opened the meeting by discussing the substantial growth of his company and the influential effect Rubio had on his small business.
Rubio received applause as he spoke of preserving the American Dream.
“They won’t be able to touch the First Amendment. They won’t be able to touch the Second Amendment. They won’t be able to touch our important constitutional rights. But here’s what we must do — we must pass amendments limiting the size and scope of the federal government,” Rubio said as he addressed the crowd.
“Rubio supports small businesses and companies who create jobs and hire people of diverse backgrounds, which our company does,” Long said in a statement. “We look forward to future visits.”
